JKD v. Krav Maga?

[gossamer]

Hello all. :)

I'm interested in traing in JKD but have so far been unable to find certified/recommended instructors in my area, I live in southern New Hampshire, US.
My alternative choice at the moment is Krav Maga. There is a new school that just opened about a mile from my house. They are listed on www.kravmaga.com so they seem legit.


So my questions are: does anyone know of a "certified" JKD instructor in my area? If not, is Krav maga comparable in effective street defense to JKD?

Thanks.

ps cool site.

Bill

[AndyD]

Its not about which art is better its about which class you get the most from. Train with as many people and arts as possible and get whats good for YOU. There are no good or bad arts just good and bad practicioners/intructors.

[YODA]

That's a graet philosophy Andy - is is true much of the time.

If only it were so simple. :D

[SoKKlab]

Do Krav Maga first. It's quite simple to learn, hence why it's applicable for non martial artists and 'everday-folk'.

Its whole credo is that it was designed for maximum effectiveness in worst case scenarios, so its core is Self-Protection under any circumstances.

Whilst you are doing Krav, keep looking for JKD schools.
Once you find one, make a decision from there. You may decide to carry on in Krav Maga and do JKD also, or you may quit Krav and do only JKD.

But to have a legit Krav Maga school one mile from your house, is a boon. Go and have a look at it.

[gossamer]

Cool, thanks for the input.

Originally posted by SoKKlab

But to have a legit Krav Maga school one mile from your house, is a boon. Go and have a look at it.

I think I will at least go and check out an advanced KM class with some sparring. It should give me an idea of what to expect.

Thanks again,
Bill

[Pericles]

Hi Gossamer,

Out of interest, how goes it with the Krav Maga?

Regards,

Pericles

[JKD guy]

Krav maga and JKD are somewhat similar. Both are street-effective. I have a green belt in krav maga, and also do JKD (I do "2nd generation" Ted Wong JKD).

Here are some differences I noticed:

- Krav maga is just a better workout. You tend to work harder in a krav class. Everything is 100% power and speed, it seems. I sweat hard.

- JKD is most boxing-oriented, and we don't have weapons defenses. Krav does. Also, a lot of the blocks in JKD are from boxing, and assume your attacker is unarmed. Don't assume that. Krav defenses are "out farther" so that you don't get stabbed as you block.

- If you just want a hard workout and learn to defend yourself on the street, learn krav. If you want to be more of a boxer-type and get into feints and "drawing" and some intermediate to advanced boxing stuff, do JKD.

- Overall, I think that JKD lacks in some areas (weapons), and krav maga doesn't have enough feints and combinations and stuff.

- JKD is really better if you want to "delve into" martial arts and have a lot of time. For example, for me, learning feints and combinations and boxing made sense AFTER I did 3 years of krav maga.

- I have yet to see any multiple-opponent drills in JKD. JKD seems to assume that bad guys never travel in packs, which is just wrong. Krav maga has a LOT of multiple-attacker drills.

- Krav maga emphasizes adrenaline drills (turning down the lights to simulate a night fight, etc.). This is VERY good stuff for training your mind to fight through adrenaline. I have yet to see that in JKD.

- In my JKD class, we do grappling and NHB (no holds barred stuff). The takedowns and takedown defenses are good.

- JKD class is more fun for me, becuase the sparring has been really good. JKD is very "let's try this and see if it works", i.e. very pragmatic, and success-oriented, which is great. I have been able to "try out" a lot of stuff in free sparring, which tells you right away what works and what doesn't. JKD is thus fun from that point of view.

- Krav is a system, not a hybrid like JKD. JKD is just a mix of other systems. Thus, krav maga is more "dogmatic", and JKD is more "pragmatic" in its approach.

Both are excellent. If I had to choose one for street defense, it would be krav maga.

[Pericles]

Hi JKD Guy,

Thank you for your comments. Continue to enjoy your training.


Regards,

Pericles

[Len]

JKD guy - There are no weapons in JKD because you are taking original Ted Wong JKD. This was basically JKD in it's developmental stage way back in the late 60's. Now days there are weapons because JKD concepts guys under Inosanto are more reality based in their training. They learn to deal with sticks, knives, etc. in addition to the latest in ground fighting like BJJ. Weapon disarment is a nice thing to learn if what you are learning will actually work against a resisting opponent. To dislodge any kind of doubt in the efficiency of your training in krav maga, do a little experiment say for knife disarment. Get two red magic markers. Both you and your opponent wear long sleeve white shirts, white garden gloves, and white pants (if you can find them). Pretend the marker is the knife and each "red mark" they are able to land represents a cut or stab. Have your opponent come at you full speed and really try to land hits anywhere on your whole body....hands, arms, torso, legs, etc. and not hold back. Tell him to use feints and fakes while trying every trick in the book. I guarantee you that your attitude and confidence of weapon-disarment will change dramatically. It's one thing to have someone who doesn't know how to fight with a knife. But if you do say....a fillipino martial artist...it's not so easy. 80 - 90 percent of weapon disarments all of a sudden go out the window. And even a non-experienced guy with a knife can be unpredictable. Disarming a weapon from someone can be done but it's very, very hard and very, very dangerous.

Paul Vunak was once doing a seminar on weapon disarment and used the same experiment that I listed before. He went through his whole time telling people that most weapon disarments don't work and even if they do, most likely you will be hit or cut in the process. And guess what? A Karv Maga guy was supposed to go on next and most of their art is weapon-disarment based. LOL. Man he felt bad. The guy comes on and starts doing all this stuff that Paul said wouldn't work and the audience just didn't buy it.

[Hannibal]

I have done this drill a few times and managed to draw a smiley face on someone's groin!

[JKD guy]

Hi Len, I have done an Inosanto seminar over 4 days in L.A. (this past summer), so I know what you are talking about (I have also done some pekit-tirsia kali training). I think that the idea that you can "disarm" someone is a dangerous illusion (actually, as Inosanto said, pekiti, unlike other forms of kali, doesn't believe in disarms). I tend to listen to guys who have been in real knife fights, like Marc MacYoung and Peyton Quinn. MacYoung said, he spent most of his "knife-fighting" career "retreating or running away". In JKD concepts terms, you have to always be at "largo" range - just outside the opponents maximum reach. Vunak recognizes that. I think Vunak once said, against a live knife, he would prefer to just run away. You can always tell the real experts because they will admit that. As Marc MacYoung said, "it takes a true 'pro' to just walk away".

But you are right, the JKD I do is not as advanced in terms of weapons as JKD concepts in the Inosanto/Vunak vein. We spar a lot and it is fun. I once had a sparring partner with a lot of kali/silat/kuntao experience. In the middle of our "boxing match", he began to get "really S.E. Asia" on me. It was awesome, because my kali training just kicked in, and I was tapping his elbows and doing a lot of kali stuff, automatically. That is the best feeling, when that happens. [Actually, I do a version of JKD that is Ted Wong + NHB. We do a lot of BJJ and no holds barred stuff, as developed in the Straight Blast Gym, I think it is called]. So there is some very "modern" stuff in there. But not weapons.